Shifter and general carpet questions

[428street]

I am getting very close....!!!

I completed cutting the holes for the shifter and ash tray with relative ease. I dry fit many times so I would not make a mistake and it came out great.

I ran into a puzzle when trying to put the shift lever into the boot. The shifter I have (ERA replica of the original one) has a rectangle end that bolts onto the tranny and has the reverse lever (non-functional) on the top end of the shifter. I unscrewed the actual shift knob and retaining bolt underneath but I can not figure out how the damn reverse lever comes apart. I need to take this apart to get the SL into the boot.

Also, I am starting to dry fit the carpet. It appears that the finished seam is what I need to take my cue from and fit the carpet to the top of the body line. The bottom part of the carpet is unfinished and appears it needs to be trimmed. I am talking here about the front foot boxes. How much should overlap in general from the bottom angle to the floor? To the right and left of the foot box (tunnel area) the carpet needs a bunch of trimming. Is this normal as the pieces I received are off by inches.

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

[Bobcat]

Frank , what I did on my Galaxie with a toploader was to set the boot in the sun for a while ( keep in mind I live in SC ) and use lots of silicon spray on the boot and shifter and then put it on from the top , one side of the reverse lockout at a time . The shifter was still on the tranny . I have also done it by taking the shifter off and putting the boot on from the bottom , again , one side at a time and lots of silicon spray and a warm boot so the rubber will stretch .... but MUCH easier from the top. Taking the shifter is a real PITA !
I will follow the same procedure on the Cobra as it has worked many times for me in the past .
On the carpet , ERA leaves you a safe margin of excess material as there are variations in fit .... and I lost my carpet stretcher . I left about 1/2" on the bottom on the foot boxes where it meets the floor and the floor carpet came out ok .
I have pictures I took of my carpet installation and I will send you some ... the seats aren`t in the car yet , so you can see things pretty clearly .

See ya ,
Bob

[428street]

Thanks Bob...so I'm not crazy!

Sure, any pics would be great.

Also, what tools do you use to cut and mark the carpet for proper fit?

[strictlypersonl]

I added a little more detail to the carpet installation in the latest manual for chassis 758-on (still applicable to your earlier car). You might want to download it.

[SSSammy]

Unscrew the knob and set aside. There will be a spring in the hole underneath. Pull the spring out and set aside. The reverse lever is held in place by a remnant of the OEM lock out cable. It is now just a sharpened 2" pin with a plug brazed onto the end. Pull the reverse lever upward sharply .. maybe several times. The plug/pin will dislodge and come to the top of the barrel of the shifter. Pluck it out with your fingers .. now the horizontal lever is free and you can slide it out. Install your boot. Now reverse the process to reassemble. Getting the pin to go back in the tiny hole in the reverse lock out lever is a b!tch. Easier to just unbolt from the tranny and slide the boot up over the bottom. But I learned this on the toploader, which has a big plate on the bottom.

Sorry, can't do pics right now .. car is in the shop

Sam

[428street]

So you're telling me to not take the reverse lever off? But to take the rectangle end of the shifter and push it through the hole in the top of the boot?

Whats up with the car?

[SSSammy]

No, I just telling you how to do it by removing the shift knob and the reverse T lever, without taking the shifter off of the tranny. But with the Tremec version shifter, you can also just unbolt it from the tranny and slide the boot on from the bottom.

My car is getting a new CWI differential with more robust axles and a change of ratio to 3.31 from 3.42. The original Jag axles fractured with the application of a modest 614 ft-lbs TQ My bad

Sam

[Bobcat]

Frank .... I agree with Sammy ... don`t take the reverse lever off . I never have and got the boot(s) on ok . As far as crazy ... you`re probably no crazier than I am!
On cutting the carpet ... just use a razor knife and lots of sharp blades as the carpet dulls them pretty quick . Wait for the glue to dry before the final trimming . I used chalk on the carpet for marking and also did the final trimming after the carpet was glued down . Another tip ... I used plastic spatulas that are used for applying body putty to push the carpet into corners and a roller to help get the carpet to lie right and iron out any wrinkles . If you don`t have a roller , you can use a plastic hammer with a round head . Don`t be afraid to pull the carpet up if you feel it doesn`t look the way you want it to as it takes the glue about 30 minutes to really set up . The most time consuming thing for me was getting all the corners to line up where they all came together .

[Kramer]

I don't have the time to write as much as necessary so PM me and we can talk if you like....for now some general comments:

1) I don't think you need to take the shift handle apart..maybe just the ball.
2) Remember (if for some reason you don't like the ERA handle) there are other handles that don't use the larger square botton where it connects to your transmission.
3) I had the top part of my shifter plate(on the tranny) custom made (for about $125) because I wanted my shifter line up precisely in the center of tunnel. I have heard forks having issues with the boot coming up b/c the shifter moved too far in one direction.
4) I then used the ERA handle but took it to a maching shop to slighty widen the holes so I had a nice tight fit b/t the handle and the shift plate.
5) With regard to the tunnel carpet. Take your time...start with the top first and let it dry, then slowly work from top down using your fingers to get ride of any bubbles in the carpet as you go...you should have plenty of excess carpet...let sit...then later (i did each part a day apart)..go backa and do the other side.

Kramer.

[Chaplain]

SSSammy directions are right on. To get the wire and brazed piece out use a pencil with a new eraser and a small piece of double faced tape applied to it. Stick this into the top of the shifter and lift out the keeper. You can also use this to lower the keeper back in. Just give it a little twist and lift the pencil out.

[428street]

Guys, thanks for the info. Between your answers and speaking with Jack I am 90% there...couple of other questions that have come to light....

As for the tunnel which gets carpeted completely. Does the carpet over lap a bit on all the edges? Jack said the vinyl that goes on the back plate (in front of the rear diff) does get overlapped and to not glue about an inch in front of the edge - he said it just makes things easier...I want to double check that this is the only place you overlap...I usually write notes on everything but I was in a rush today...

Also, there are two pieces of carpet that are installed to the left and right of the footboxes (against the tranny)...how much overlap do these pieces get on the edge where the tunnel cover joins and on top where the black carpet piece fits on top?

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

Hey Frank. The boot should stretch over the lockout lever one side at a time (warm it up with a hair dryer). I actually have a 1/4 inch cut in my boot made by accident, so take your time. Same for the carpet. Just read Bob's new online section and go one piece at a time and use spray adhesive. The new ERA Cobra (yours) in different than mine (#718), so my assy pics on Fotki may not help you much, but you should overlap the tunnel carpet on the sides toward the front as much as possible for appearance and added heat insulation...speaking of which, use some sort of heat shield material between the floor and carpet. It will help with the heat and also works as a sound deadener.

[SSSammy]

Originally Posted by 428street

As for the tunnel which gets carpeted completely. Does the carpet over lap a bit on all the edges?

I think the instructions mention this, but I folded the carpet over the forward edge of the tunnel about 2" and glued it. That will make it fit tight to the footboxes when they are carpeted. The sides of the tunnel, I cut the carpet back to about 1/8" inside the screw holes and left a bare metal flange. This gets covered by the floor mats and leaves the screws easy to get to for tunnel removal. At the rear, just cut the carpet at the corner where the metal is folded 90 deg, leaving the nut plates exposed. This gets covered by the rear plate.

Originally Posted by 428street

Also, there are two pieces of carpet that are installed to the left and right of the footboxes (against the tranny)...how much overlap do these pieces get on the edge where the tunnel cover joins and on top where the black carpet piece fits on top?

On the tunnel (vertical) side, I glued them all the way to the edge of the fiberglass, and then when dry, trimmed to that edge. On the top (horizontal) side, I cut the carpet back just inside the edge of the metal cover plate. So I had bare metal resting on the fiberglass. I recall that I had to do that to get the front of the plate to fit correctly against the firewall. YMMV The black cover piece does not get trimmed, it will hang over all the edges.

Sam

[428street]

Thanks guys, this helped a ton.